Popular Midtown party spot has closed, but a replacement is coming

At about 4 pm on Monday, Midtown partiers let out a collective wail that could be heard across the city. Celtic Gardens, one of the neighborhood's most popular bars, announced on Facebook that it had closed.

Since its opening by the KCH Group in 2011, Celtic Gardens has been a staple of Midtown's party scene alongside its sister concepts Pub Fiction, 3rd Floor and Shot Bar. The bar remains financially successful, too, reporting over $260,000 in Mixed Beverage sales in December, per the State Comptroller's Office. Good for the fourth highest sales in the 77006 zip code.

Although Celtic Gardens is gone, its continued popularity means that new operating partners, the Salt 'N Pepper Group, have plans for the space's future. It will be reopened as Irish Cowboy Backyard Patio & Bar and already has its own Facebook page, Instagram account, and Twitter feed.

Unfortunately, Salt 'N Pepper marketing and product director Daut Elshani tells CultureMap in an email that he isn't certain exactly when Irish Cowboy will open. According to Elshani, the group is still finalizing terms of a new lease with its landlord. Hopefully it's before St. Patrick's Day. After all, any bar named Irish Cowboy deserves to be full of green-wearing revelers on St. Paddy's.